Mid-term evaluation
From October 29th to November 21st, Mr. A. Dieudonné Serukabuza, Pax Christi International Africa Programme Coordinator visited the four dioceses (Gulu, Lira, Arua, Nebbi) of Uganda where the sisters – who benefitted from a Training of Trainers in July this year – are now training fellow sisters, students in schools, the youth in parishes, and members of local communities.
During the visit, our team conducted interviews with the trainer sisters to discuss the impact of the project on their lives and their communities, and to hear their recommendations for improving the project. In general, they are happy to see some changes in their communities and would like the project to be extended and become an integral part of their apostolate.
Watch the testimony of Sr. Joyce Peter Aya, Trainer Sister in the project, who converted from Islam:
In each diocese, each parish, each area, the team visited groups of beneficiaries, accompanied by their trainer sister. There were fruitful discussions with the participants, and some of them organized skits, wrote poems, or sung as a way to understand conflict and practice dialogue and mediation.
Watch Nazaneen Inyono, student in the Diocese of Lira, declaiming her poem “PEACE”. You can find the poem here.
Sadly, a tragic event occurred during their stay. The beloved Sr. Doreen Oyella (Sacred Heart of Jesus), one of the sisters involved in the project, passed away from a stroke. The evaluation was interrupted for two days for all to attend her funeral mass. Pax Christi International’s Co-Presidents and Secretary-General sent a condolences letter to her family and community. Sr. Doreen was a passionate advocate for peace and nonviolence whose dedication touched countless lives, particularly in Lira and Arua. She participated in our July 2024 Training of Trainers and in just three months, she trained over 400 youth in Lira, inspiring them with the values of gospel nonviolence, peace, and reconciliation.
In three months, the sisters have trained 267 sisters and 5,311 young persons, including 3,053 girls and 2,258 boys. As there are many cases of domestic violence, in addition to the youth and religious communities, sisters are adapting their training to include teachers, medical staff, prisoners, women groups, etc. The sisters are very proactive and wish to keep accompanying their communities on a path of nonviolence and peacebuilding. We are closely working with our partner the Association of Religious in Uganda (ARU) to ensure the project is well implemented in 4 Dioceses (Gulu, Arua, Lira and Nebbi).
In each Diocese, the team met with the local Church leadership to present the project, discuss its implementation and explain the ongoing the evaluation process. They first had the occasion to talk to Archbishop Raphael P’mony Wokorach in Gulu. The following days, they also met with the vicars general of Lira and Arua and the Deputy Episcopal Administrator of Nebbi.
Final results
The project ended in January 2025. In total, the Trainer Sisters have trained over 1700 people, of which over 1,000 girls, close to 500 boys, and over 150 religious sisters.
Among the topics, the trainings focused on peacebuilding among the youth and children, avoiding what destroys peace and how to be peacemakers and peacebuilders at home and at school. One trainer shared that, through discussions with people from different backgrounds, she came to realize that everybody wants peace, but they need help to be aware and address the roots of conflict such as misunderstandings, fighting, wars and poverty.
Read more about our programme in Uganda by clicking on the preview below
